Augustine, Martyrdom, and Classical Rhetoric

Reviews / Votes

Using an extensive literature and suggesting a re-visitation of the work of Saint Augustine, one of the most important Christian writers of all time, Adam Ployd's book entitled Augustine, Martyrdom and Classical Rhetoric,...succeeds not only as a work of theological research useful for scholars which suggests a new way of understanding his ideas, his influences and how he came to develop the preceding tradition of the Church, how he sought continuity with it, but is also useful reading for any reader aiming to find out more about the history of Christianity in its earliest centuries, to understand why martyrdom was so important for it and even created a specific rhetoric in the discourse, and how Saint Augustine managed to use this aspect of the life of the Church and to develop an original way of thinking based on it. * Iuliu-Marius Morariu, The Recensiones * Augustine, Martyrdom, and Classical Rhetoric is a landmark contribution to the field, leaving readers with a profound appreciation for the dynamic power of Augustine's martyrs as instruments of persuasion. Ployd's meticulous analysis, engaging writing style, and compelling arguments make this book essential reading for scholars of early Christianity, rhetoric, and theology. It is, without a doubt, a groundbreaking study that reshapes our understanding of Augustine's martyr theology and its rhetorical construction. * Tim Wong, Reading Religion * Ployd is qualified to produce this study given his work on Augustine and rhetoric and his studies of Augustine and Donatism, a context where the nature of martyrdom was intensely contested. This book is both a solid study of Augustine and a snapshot into the transformation of late-ancient Christianity. * Gregory W. Lee, JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES * It will be an essential resource for those who want to explore the hetorical quality of Augustine's theology, as well as for those interested in early Christian martyr accounts. * Michael Glowasky, Scottish Journal of Theology * Ployd's book, though self-consciously brief, is an excellent example of scholarship intending to lay a few bricks toward a larger structure. ...Ployd's threefold argument is compelling and gives both historians and theologians a helpful dialogue partner in the conversation regarding martyrdom and the deployment of martyrs within the framework of late antique Christian rhetoric. * Coleman M. Ford, Religious Studies Review *